Stationary exercise machines adapted for home use are abundant in the field of exercise equipment, including among others treadmills, cross-country and stair climbing machines and pedal-type machines, the most common being the stationary bicycle. Most of such presently available machines are adapted to be used by individuals who are generally healthy and ambulatory and have an interest staying in shape, reducing their weight or of improving their cardiovascular system and muscle tone. Generally, such exercise machines are not designed especially to be used by the elderly, infirm or those individuals who may be convalescing from surgery or o suffering from a chronic and/or debilitating ailment. For example, cross-country ski machines, treadmills and stair climbing machines while capable of providing the users with excellent aerobic workout of both the upper and lower body, the inherent nature of such equipment virtually precludes their use by individuals who have leg or foot problems or may be confined to wheelchairs, walkers and are not fully ambulatory. On the other hand, in using stationary bicycles and rowing machines which have specialized seats appurtenant thereto, the users must be able to achieve and maintain a sitting position on the seat provided in order to workout on such machines. In either case, however, such seats are not the type that are adapted for easy and comfortable access and use by persons suffering from a variety of physical infirmities. For example, the user must sit on the bicycle seat and operate the foot pedals that typically drive a flywheel or large fan blades which provides resistance to said movement of the pedals. Furthermore, such exercise bicycles tend to be heavy, not easily movable from place-to-place and are relatively costly. Even though such exercise bicycles do not require the user to stand, the seats are relatively small and precariously mounted on the tipper end of an upright frame or post and are not recommended for the infirm and elderly who may not have sufficient agility to clamber into the seats of such machines and while perched precariously thereon, to vigorously pedal the same. Indeed, such bicycle seat arrangements preclude or deter the use of such exercise bicycles by large numbers of persons who have balance or sitting problems, such as may be associated with vertigo, arthritis, prostate or hemorrhoid problems, or convalescing from surgery to correct such problems.
In response to the need for exercise equipment for individuals unable to use standard exercise equipment, special exercise machines are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. which enable the user to remain seated during exercising: 2,668,790; 3,100,640; 3,259,385; 4,262,902; and 4,664,372. None of these machines, except for the one disclosed in the '372 Patent, are adapted for simultaneous aerobic exercise of the upper and lower portions of the body. The latter patent, however, is a pedal type machine primarily adapted to be used in automobiles and have a forwardly slanted front plate adapted to fit therein. That machine would have a tendency to slide about if used in the home and has a number of intricate devices which make it costly to manufacture, namely, a torsional spring operated about a hinge, a telescoping handle section and a bicycle chain sprocket. Other of the disclosed patents include means for securing the exerciser in a fixed position relative to the user's chair and involves clamping devices that are cumbersome and complex.